


Assignment

by orphan_account



Series: The Assignment Series [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Demon! Shane, Eugene just wants to sleep, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, M/M, Ryan is a wholesome bean, Shane is super frustrated, shyan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This was based off a prompt I saw on the Instagram account @writing.prompt.sPrompt: A demon gets assigned to a human to persuade them into doing bad deeds to get them into Hell, and it starts getting really frustrating when this human is the embodiment of sunshine and just keeps. Being. Nice..Shane just wants to collect the dirt on Ryan but he's too perfect.





	Assignment

**Author's Note:**

> I think it goes without saying but Ryan is in a situation in this story where there is dubious consent. I thought about cutting it out but it would look weird if I did that.  
If that triggers you, please do not read this story.  
Also, Ryan may not seem totally bothered in the story about what happened (I feel like this story seems rushed so I might go back and fix it later) but I didn't mean to make it seem like he wasn't affected at all.  
If you don't like, please don't read.  
Hope you guys enjoy!

“Take it.”  
Ryan had been staring at the little knick knack sitting on his co-workers desk for days now, he couldn’t help it. He loved it. It was a little statue of his favourite bear, Paddington. He had meant to ask Devin where she had gotten such a cute little statue, but he never seemed to find the right time to do it. Either she’d be really busy working or he would be. Now it seemed that his other co-worker and close friend, Shane Madej, had also noticed him staring at the ceramic bear.

“What?” Ryan tore his eyes away from the bear, looking up at his friend. Shane shrugged, flipping the page he was reading to the next page.  
“Steal it. Take it. Grab it. You clearly want it, so go for it.” He looked up from the papers he was reading. Ryan scoffed.  
He may really like it, but he wasn’t going to steal it. He wasn’t a thief.  
Plus, he reasoned. What if she was really into Paddington too? Him stealing it would make her upset.

“I am not taking it.” He shook his head and moved his eyes back to his work. The room was silent for a moment, then, Devin bustled in. She seemed to be in a good mood and she didn’t have a large stack of papers or anything else that would indicate her busyness, so he caught her attention.

“What’s up?’ Devin wandered over to Ryan’s desk so they wouldn’t have to shout at each other across the office.  
“I just noticed the new little knick knack on your desk-“ He began, and Devin’s eyes lit up with a dawn of realization.

She hurried back to her desk and picked up the little bear off her desk. “Thanks for reminding me.” She held the bear out to Ryan, and he took it, slightly confused. She chuckled.

“I found it at a yard sale a few weeks ago and I thought of you, you’re obsessed with Paddington aren’t you?” She asked. He nodded, looking down at the bear in his palm.

“I’ve been meaning to get it to you for weeks but I keep forgetting, I have so much stuff to take care of…”

“Thanks so much!” Ryan couldn’t believe she had really planned to give him the bear the whole time. He chuckled slightly and looked up at Shane, smiling brightly.

“Devin is pretty cool, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Ryan.” Shane grumbled, flipping another page. Ryan rolled his eyes and turned back to his work. He didn’t even want to know what Shane was upset about now.

-

“Never have I ever… considered murdering someone.” Shane grinned at the group. He watched as slowly cups began to rise to lips. Devin, Eugene, Andrew… He paused as his eyes landed on Ryan, sitting with his cup held tightly in his hand. He wasn’t taking a sip.

“You’ve never considered murdering someone?” Shane asked, unable to contain his disbelief. Ryan smiled awkwardly.

“No. I don’t really get very angry at people like that, you know?” He explained. The group chuckled at the shocked, disbelieving look on Shane’s face. He gripped the cup in his hand, jaw clenched slightly.

“Not even me? You joke about it all the time on the show.” He pointed out and Ryan shrugged.

“That’s all it was. Jokes. I never seriously considered it… Are you okay?” He asked, noticing that the plastic cup in Shane’s hand was starting to leak alcohol. Shane nodded stiffly and gestured for them to continue the game.  
He’d get him next time.

-

Shane did not get him. He couldn’t. It was frustrating as all hell.  
When he’d first been assigned to this job, he’d thought it’d be a piece of cake. Ryan couldn’t resist the darkness forever. He’d eventually cave. But Ryan didn’t.

He was perfect. He refused to steal or skip work. He wouldn’t murder (obviously) and was impossible to convince to take drugs, he didn’t curse people, he held the door open for others as he walked, he smiled at everyone he passed…  
It was driving Shane insane.  
How could one simple human get the better of him so easily?  
It wasn’t fair.

The sound of a strange noise startled Shane out of his musings. He looked at Ryan’s desk, empty. He was probably off on a coffee run. Even worse, he’d probably bring Shane back one too. He groaned inwardly, standing.  
As much as he loved to sit and wallow in his own failure (he didn’t), he was curious what the noise had been.

He began to walk down the hallway, realizing that the office was slowly starting to empty. It was getting pretty late. Shane looked at the clock, it was around dinner time. Mostly everyone had probably left early, rushing to get home to their families for dinner. Shane heard the sound again, coming from the break room and tilted his head, curious.  
He stepped closer to the door to get a better listen, keeping himself hidden, just in case.

“Where’s Madej?” A voice asked. Shane didn’t recognize the voice at all, but then again, he didn’t really know a lot of the employees who worked at Buzzfeed, especially the ones who weren’t on camera.

“Shane? He’s back at his desk. We’ve been working non stop on writing and research for Unsolved.” Ryan’s voice flooded the air and Shane immediately remembered his musings from earlier. He grumbled to himself in annoyance but continued to listen.

“Are you two…?”

“I’ve already told you, no. And he doesn’t know about you either. I’d like to keep it that way.” Ryan sounded slightly embarrassed, which piqued Shane’s interest. They never kept secrets from each other, they read each other like an open book. If Ryan was keeping something from him, it must be good.

Get himself sent to Hell, good. He could feel his annoyance slightly dissolving.

“Fair enough, I don’t think he’d like it very much.” The voice chuckled and Shane wanted to scream at them to tell him. He had to know.

“That I sleep with you or that it’s the only way to keep Unsolved running?” Ryan asked, airily.  
Shane felt the hair on the back of his neck, stand up. He knew that Unsolved meant Ryan had to sacrifice a lot, but he hadn’t really thought about the full extent of what that entailed.

The voice snorted. Ryan let out a chuckle. “It’s not like it’s his business who I sleep with anyway.”  
Shane should’ve left then. He had the dirt on Ryan.  
He was basically selling his body, tainting it before he was even married. It wasn’t a guaranteed pass into Hell, but it was something and he knew his boss would be very pleased when he brought him the information.

But what Ryan said stung. He was right, it wasn’t his business who he slept with, but it involved the show. He was hurt that his partner didn’t think he had a right to know.

He heard the sounds again. It was the sound of something, or someone, being shoved against something.

“Not right now, I told you. Shane is just down the hall. He’s going to wonder where I’ve wandered off to eventually.” There was the sound of scuffling and Shane hesitantly turned walking back to his desk.  
Ryan was a consenting adult. He could make his own choices. So, why then, did this make him so uncomfortable?  
The demon, not used to dealing with all of these human emotions, slumped into his desk chair. He didn’t understand.

-

“I’m a demon.”  
Eugene stared at him with a look that said he thought he was crazy. Shane huffed.

“And you had to barge into my apartment at 4am to tell me this… why?” Eugene wasn’t even tired, just annoyed that his friend couldn’t wait to do this at a more reasonable hour. The demon scowled.

“Do you believe me?”

“Where are your wings?”

Shane rolled his eyes. “I don’t have wings.” He blinked, showing off his jet-black soulless eyes. This was the first time he’d come clean to a human about his true form. Eugene stared at him for a long time, finally shrugging.  
“Okay. Why are you at my house at 4am, Mr. Demon.” He asked again, clearly getting more annoyed the longer this went on for.

Shane fidgeted. He had been delaying this part.  
He slowly began to explain to Eugene about his job. How he was supposed to drag Ryan away from the light but failed every time because Ryan was so sweet and kind.  
How angry it’d made him that he couldn’t get his job done, that Ryan was so perfect. He hesitated as he reached the part about the break room. He didn’t want to tell someone else about Ryan’s exploits, but he wanted to understand his emotions.  
He told Eugene everything.

“That’s technically illegal.” Eugene told him as Shane finished, looking to him for advice. Shane furrowed his brows.

Eugene sighed, for someone posing as a human, he sure didn’t know a whole lot about them. Especially their laws.

“Shane, people in power can’t have sex for favours. That’s like a big no. It’s gross. Ryan may seem like he has a choice, but he really doesn’t. He has no other option, he doesn’t want to lose Unsolved.” 

Shane deflated. Deep down, he’d known that all along, but hearing Eugene say it out loud was horrible.  
“You care about him.”

Shane looked up at Eugene. He wanted to protest, argue, push him away. He couldn’t care for anyone, he was a demon. One of the darkest entities known to man. He was a sinner, a cold hard criminal in his last live probably (he couldn’t remember).  
But he thought about how stressed he’d been for the past week thinking about Ryan. About what he’d heard. He remembered pacing up and down his apartment for hours, trying to figure it all out on his own.

“I do… but I’m not supposed to be able to.” He mumbled miserably and Eugene leaned over, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Then you need to talk to him… Look the idea that there might be someone doing that to Ryan makes me sick, but it makes me even sicker to think that it’s happening at my work place. I promise I’ll have that looked into and dealt with. But you have to tell Ryan everything else. He has a right to know you care and what you are.”

Shane let Eugene’s words sink in. “Thanks.” He breathed a sigh of relief.  
Now that his mind was clear, he could finally do what needed to be done.

-  
“Shane.” Ryan walked into work the next morning, looking a little nervous. Shane sipped his coffee, looking up at his friend with what he hoped was an air of nonchalance.

Ryan didn’t say anything for a moment and Shane raised his eyebrows, wondering what had transpired to make him so speechless.

“I- Eugene texted me this morning.” He finally managed to get out. He slid his hand to his pocket, pulling out his phone. Shane shrugged.

“Okay. You and Eugene text a lot, what’s so special about this time?” He could feel his stomach twisting. What had he told him? Did Ryan know that he knew? 

Ryan cleared his throat. “W- We have a new higher up overseeing things for Unsolved. The guy I used to deal with… he’s going away.”  
Shane perked up at the news. Ryan didn’t seem to notice.

“Like to jail, away. It came out that he was… misusing his power and, um, so he’s in a lot of heat right now.”

Shane briefly wondered what Eugene had done. How he had gotten the dirt on this man. But then he realized he didn’t really want to know. Whatever he had done, worked and that was enough for him. Something told him the methods were… Hell worthy.  
Eugene would make a great demon…

He felt arms wrap around him, hugging him.  
“Whoa!” He chuckled as Ryan hugged him. “What’s this for?”

“I know it was you. You were the only one besides us on the floor last week. I noticed you’d been acting strange, but I didn’t want to pry. I know that it seemed like I had the situation handled but I was in way over my head. You really saved my skin.”

Shane was surprised that Ryan was able to tie it back to him so easily. I should really stop underestimating this guy, he thought. His arms went to return the hug, enjoying the feeling of his friend close.

“Do you want to- “He began but Ryan cut him off.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I have a therapist now, set up an appointment this morning. I have to testify for the court case. I’m going to work through that stuff on my own. Just knowing you’re there to support me is all I need, big guy.” He assured him. Shane relaxed, slightly grateful that he wouldn’t have to listen to the details or have to help with Ryan’s emotions.

“Since we’re full of surprises today… I have to tell you one more thing.” He hesitantly pulled away from the hug.

“Feel free to run away screaming or curl up in a ball and cry, or whatever it is you do… but I’m a demon. I’ve been one this whole time. I was assigned to you, to turn you over to the dark side, so to speak. The only problem is… You’re way too perfect.” He admitted lamely, blinking his eyes like he’d done for Eugene to show that he was being serious and not pranking him.

Ryan stared at him.

“I was so frustrated. You just never slipped up. You still haven’t. You’re so perfect, so sweet, so soft, so pure.” He let out an exasperated sigh, hands going up to pull at his hair. “And then I stumbled on you in that room. I wanted to leave right then. But turns out I had no dirt on you after all. None of it was your fault. Of course, it wouldn’t be. You’re an angel. Why did they assign me to someone who can’t be changed? Were they trying to torture me?”

Shane felt a soft hand touch his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I caused you so much strife.” Ryan joked lamely. “Maybe… Maybe you weren’t meant to change me.”  
Shane pulled his hands slowly out of his hair, tilting his head to look at Ryan questioningly. The shorter male watched as his friend tried to comprehend what was happening.

“But… why else would they send me here?”

Ryan flushed slightly. He scratched the back of his neck, almost as if he knew something that Shane didn’t.  
“I… When I first came to work here, I knew no one. I had no friends, not really. I was too scared to talk to even Devin. Every night, my co-workers would go out for drinks or play games together or recount fun stories they’d shared. I wanted that more than anything. Around the time I started Unsolved with Brent… I…” He swallowed, clearly slightly embarrassed.

“I may have… summoned you. I didn’t know that’d it’d worked at the time. You showed up and you were everything I’d ever hoped for. I didn’t connect the dots. Until just now…”

Everything suddenly makes sense. He hadn’t been assigned here at all, he’d been summoned. Ryan had summoned him to be his companion. His partner in crime.  
The room lapsed into silence.  
Ryan stood, still shocked that his summoning had worked after all.  
Shane sat, thinking about Ryan.

“… I don’t want to leave.” Shane finally said, breaking the silence they’d lapsed into. Ryan looked horrified.

“Why? Where are you going?” He asked, worried maybe he’d done something wrong. Shane blinked in confusion.

“Well now that you know the truth, I thought…”

Ryan relaxed slightly, realizing it wasn’t something he’d done. It was Shane’s insecurities. He shook his head.

“No. You’re stuck here. With me. You’re my demon, big guy.” He patted his shoulder, smirking slightly. “No way you’re getting rid of me that easily.”  
Shane liked that. He didn’t know why.

“My human?” He asked, meeting Ryan’s eyes. The shorter male didn’t know how to respond at first. He had never really been anyone’s anything. He’d never been looked at the way Shane was looking at him now, with utter devotion and admiration. Like he was special.  
Shane’s words from earlier echoed in his head. “You’re perfect.”

“Your human.” He finally agreed.

Shane seemed to be content with that answer. He turned his chair back to his desk, tucking his legs in and getting back to work. Ryan looked around, he’d forgotten where he was. What had happened.  
He thought about what he’d had to do to keep Unsolved running. What he no longer had to do. He didn’t regret it. He couldn’t bring himself to. Shane was right, he was too sweet. He couldn’t resent his old superior even if he tried.  
Slowly, he began to get back into the groove of his work once more. Eventually, Shane gave up on his own work to come sit with Ryan.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” The demon asked, concerned. He knew that things like that could be taxing on a human.  
“No. I’m not. But we’ll figure it out. Together.” He laced his fingers with Shane’s. The demon made a noise of acknowledgement and watched Ryan settle back into his work.  
Things were changing, starting to make more sense and starting to confuse at the same time. But he wasn’t worried.  
All he needed was Ryan. All he needed was his human.  
The rest they’d figure out when the time came.


End file.
